Experts launch action on acrylamide in staple foods

Food science experts and officials from Europe and the United States are taking concerted action to try to reduce potentially dangerous levels of acrylamide, a toxin known to cause cancer, in staple foods.

The possible health risk was discussed at a meeting convened by the World Health Organization in Geneva last month, after the announcement in March by Swedish scientists that acrylamides were present in a wide range of foods, particularly …